A former director of HIH insurance was sentenced today to four-and-a-half years in prison for his role in Australia’s largest-ever corporate collapse.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, the fifth-biggest US securities firm, agreed to pay $222.5 million to resolve a suit filed by investors over the bank’s role as underwriter for Enron Corp, the bankrupt energy trader, people familiar with the settlement said.

Citigroup Inc, the world’s biggest bank, said second-quarter profit fell 73% after it set aside $4.95 billion to pay for legal costs.

Andrew Fastow, the former chief financial officer of Enron Corp, reported to the Houston FBI office where he was to surrender on criminal charges with defrauding shareholders through a secret agreement guaranteeing that Enron shield his LJM partnership from losses.

A settlement between Enron Corp and employee-related groups was approved by the US Bankruptcy Court, according to a statement issued by one of the groups, the Enron Employee Committee.

A US federal judge has frozen millions of dollars in assets controlled by former Enron Corp chief financial officer Andrew Fastow and his family, The Washington Post reported.

Share prices closed moderately lower after a session that was unusually tranquil by recent standards and caused some optimists to ponder whether the recently chaotic market could be approaching a sustainable bottom, dealers said.

Mel Dick, the engagement partner responsible for Arthur Andersen LLP's audit of troubled telecommunications company WorldCom Inc, said he had no knowledge that senior WorldCom executives were allegedly manipulating its accounts to boost profits.

General Electric Co's shares were posting a modest gain in midsession trade as investors pondered the defense the company issued to counter a prominent bond fund manager's criticisms of its debt load, dealers said.

Arthur Andersen, damaged by its connections to bankrupt client Enron Corp, is talking with Big Five accounting firm Deloitte & Touche Tohmatsu about selling some or all of its operations, according to reports.

Share prices were higher in early trade after changing direction several times in uncertain price action, as investors reviewed a new set of technology sector research notes and a defense industry takeover offer, dealers said.

Trading opened flat on the Nasdaq composite and slightly lower on the DJIA.

Since Enron Corp filed the largest US bankruptcy in history last year, the company has used its two jets for eight round-trip flights to New York where the case was filed, a spokesman said.

Royal Dutch/Shell has emerged as a possible buyer for Enron Corp's $2.9bn liquefied natural gas terminal in India, the BBC reported, quoting a Shell spokesman.